Communication and stakeholders

Providing clear, accurate information about medicines to our audiences and stakeholders – patients, healthcare professionals, researchers, academics, industry representatives and the general public – is a key aspect of EMA's public health mission. We work closely with our regulatory partners and stakeholders both within the EU and globally. We also use many different channels to disseminate this information: we contribute articles to relevant scientific journals, we maintain regular communication with media and we engage with diverse audiences across different social media platforms.

External communication

In 2024, EMA issued 115 press releases and news items to keep our audiences across the EU and beyond informed about key developments in the assessment of medicines and major achievements in both new and ongoing initiatives. Two press briefings were organised on human medicines highlights and measures to manage shortages of GLP-1 receptor agonists. In addition, a media seminar on medicine shortages took place on EMA premises, attended by 27 members of the press.

In its efforts to inform the public about new medicines or new uses of authorised medicines, EMA published 214 medicines overviews. It also communicated on safety concerns arising for some medicines through 24 public health communications. To keep the public and healthcare professionals up to date about specific actions required for some medicines, 28 direct healthcare professional communications and 17 shortage catalogue entries were also published.

The EMA website remains the primary communication platform, offering a thorough source of information and guidance on centrally authorised medicines and EU medicine regulation. In 2024, 3,340 webpages were added and updated, and 7,490 documents were published on the site.

Additionally, EMA's social media presence kept expanding through experimenting with different tools to engage new audiences. By the end of the year, 501 posts and 31 videos were shared across social media platforms. Five live events were organised on EMA's social channels: on psychedelics, clinical trials, antimicrobial resistance, approval timelines and regulatory science priorities.

EMA staff and experts contributed 85 articles on scientific and regulatory subjects to international journals. Over 80 % of all articles are publicly available under an open access licence.

Requests for information and access to documents

Providing citizens with clear, transparent information about its activities is a fundamental aspect of EMA's work. In 2024, the Agency received 7,285 requests for information.

EU citizens have the right to access documents held by EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies. EMA facilitates this access in accordance with the principles and conditions outlined in Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 and the Agency’s policy on document access.

In 2024, EMA received 520 requests for access to documents (representing over 1,000 documents), with most of these requests originating from the pharmaceutical industry, followed by patients and consumers.

Publication of clinical data

EMA releases clinical data provided by pharmaceutical companies to support their regulatory submissions for human medicines under the centralised procedure. This follows the Agency's flagship policy on the publication of clinical data.

In 2024, 5,817 clinical data documents were published from 73 different procedures. The publication of clinical data for non-COVID medicines containing new active substances resumed in 2023, following its interruption at the end of 2018 because of the business continuity measures introduced for the Agency's relocation to the Netherlands and subsequently due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, this has led to an increase in the usage of the clinical data website.